The Formula 1 maturity certificate: Baku

SEBASTIAN VETTEL: At first glance, Sebastian Vettel had good reason to get out of his Ferrari on Sunday, cursing, causing a bit of damage to the team garage and heading home in a bad mood. For the second time in a row, a sure victory slipped through his fingers in Baku. Instead of a total of 50 World Cup points, there were only 16 in China and Azerbaijan, and the overall lead is now held by defending champion Lewis Hamilton again. These two races could cost you the title at the end of the year! But Vettel left Baku calmly, even in a good mood. Because despite the recent results, everyone in Formula 1 feels that change is in the air. Ferrari is the strongest team, the series world champions Mercedes cannot currently keep up under normal conditions. And in this still very long season, that is worth much more than two missed race victories.

LEWIS HAMILTON: Lewis Hamilton saved the big victory poses. First place in Baku actually belonged to Sebastian Vettel, the world champion knew that. And when Vettel lost him, it was actually Valtteri Bottas' turn. It was only his team rival's puncture that pushed Hamilton forward, and completely unexpectedly he was in third place - and is now suddenly at the top of the rankings. Of course, this cannot hide the problems at Mercedes.

CHARLES LECLERC: The 20-year-old from Monegasque took sixth place as a newcomer. Sauber once again finished in the points after China (Marcus Ericsson 9th).

MERCEDES: It's as if the two top racing teams had swapped roles this year. The Silver Arrows simply cannot beat Ferrari's pace. And after four races on four very different courses, the suspicion slowly arises that the typical Mercedes tracks no longer exist: in the former stronghold of China, silver was behind, and they no longer had an advantage on the endless straight in Baku. Mercedes leads the Drivers' World Championship for the first time this season. And yet it seems more likely than ever that the Stern team's title streak will come to an end this year.

RED BULL: What hadn't Red Bull planned to do? Daniel Ricciardo's surprise victory in China was just the start after long years of unsuccessfulness. After all, they are sending perhaps the strongest driver pairing in Formula 1 into the race, and they have been able to match the racing pace of Ferrari and Mercedes in the three races of the season so far. In Baku, the motorsport world was able to watch Red Bull fail again. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were surprisingly slow at first and even had to fight with the Renaults. And then the two rivals took themselves out of the race in a high-speed crash. The attack on the top will have to wait.

BAKU: Even after three years, it still sounds like it takes getting used to: the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Formula 1 travels to an autocratically run country, and, incidentally, to one without any motorsport tradition. If you ask the drivers about it, you will hardly hear any criticism; after all, they are there as athletes. At least sport is not neglected. Course architect Hermann Tilke has designed a course that provokes chaos, which is a mixture of Monza and Monaco: high speed on the long straight and centimeter work in the narrow streets of the old town. The races this year and last year were extremely exciting and turbulent.

SAYING OF THE WEEKEND: “I would go home and cry. And then I would call both of them into my office to tell them how much less they're making from now on. So that they can repair the damage caused." (Niki Lauda when asked what he would do as the person responsible for Red Bull. Ricciardo and Verstappen had shot each other out of the race in a spectacular and unnecessary way. Lauda is head of the supervisory board at the Mercedes team.)

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The Formula 1 maturity certificate: Baku

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday was one of the most exciting races in recent years.

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